Some reproductive health bills set to die in Mississippi House

JACKSON — At least two bills affecting reproductive health will die in the Mississippi House because a chairman says he won’t bring them up for debate before a Tuesday deadline.

House Judiciary B Committee Chairman Andy Gipson opposes abortion. But, he says he won’t seek a vote on his own bill that would ban the procedure once a fetal heartbeat is detected. A similar bill died in a Senate committee last year and he anticipates that would happen again.

Gipson says he also won’t bring up the “Protection of the Human Person Act,” which would ban creation of any human-animal hybrid through in vitro fertilization.

That bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Tracy Arnold, of Booneville, says with crops, chicken and fish already genetically altered, he worries such hybrids could be attempted.